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Tara de Barbarac
Tara de Barbarac is a Scottish half-blood witch born to Wolfgang de Barbarac and Ailidh MacIntosh in Largs, Scotland. She grew up in Portree, on the Isle of Skye, and was Sorted into Ravenclaw House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she is currently a first year student. (('OOC Note: 'This is a work in progress, please do not use anything IC without permission. Meta gaming will not be tolerated.)) Biography Family The de Barbarac family lived in Portree (on the Isle of Skye, Inner Hebrides, Scotland) from early 2010. Wolfgang de Barbarac is a Swiss Muggle who was convicted of theft in late 2010 and deported from Scotland. He met Ailidh MacIntosh in 2007 whilst studying at university, and their daughter, Tara, was born three years later. Wolfgang (also known as Wolfie) is of both French and German descent, the former on his father's side, the latter his mother's. During World War II, his parents harboured refugees escaping the Nazi regime in their home near the German border in Switzerland until Allies could aid them. This is something of which Tara is very proud. Ailidh MacIntosh was a Scottish half-blood witch who, like her daughter, was a Ravenclaw at Hogwarts. She gave birth to Tara during a short holiday in Largs, Scotland. In 2016, she contracted a particularly dangerous strain of Spattergroit and died in St. Mungo's a few months later. Due to it being so contagious, Tara was unable to visit her mother during this time. Before her death, Ailidh worked as a fishmonger's assistant in a shop that would later employ Tara for summer jobs. Ailidh's father was a Muggle-born, a Hufflepuff, whilst her mother was an Irish pure-blood, also in Ravenclaw. Her mother's family disapproved the match, resulting in their disownment. Early Life As a result of her maternal family's refusal to acknowledge her and her daughter, an old friend of Ailidh's, Stewart and his son, Henry, took in Tara when she died. Stewart, a lifelong resident of Portree and former Gryffindor, cared for Tara from when she was six years old: during Ailidh's admission to hospital, and then fostered her after Ailidh's death. At this point in her life, Tara's magic began to make itself known. She was able to summon or banish items from across rooms, and when a Muggle gym teacher called her out when she fell at the vault in class, she accidentally transfigured his whistle into a mouse. Despite being mortified at this magical outburst, she couldn't help but be cheered up by the sight of a fully-grown man shrieking as he effectively kissed a rodent. Despite being the same age as Henry, the children did not both receive Hogwarts letters as Henry was discovered to be a Squib. The children, once close, became distant to one another for a time as they had looked forward to attending Hogwarts together. Their bond was eventually repaired before her first trip on the Hogwarts Express and the two remain in near-constant contact during the school year. With Stewart and Henry, Tara often attends Quidditch matches and Muggle shinty games. The three are supporters of Pride of Portree (Quidditch) and Skye Camanachd (shinty) although, on the rare occasions where matches are held at the same time, Quidditch takes precedence for the magical atmosphere. Tara speaks a little Gaelic - just the insults. Time at Hogwarts At Hogwarts, Tara found herself at loggerheads with the Potions Mistress, Professor Zimelda Zemeckis. During the events of early 2022 (when Zemeckis was witnessed by many students, including Tara, hexing the Headmistress, Professor Hannah Fischer), Tara called out Zemeckis on her alleged history as a supporter of Lord Voldemort, comparing her to the supporters of the Nazi regime. As a result, Tara received detention: scrubbing the dungeon floors - a task she undertook with pride. Despite the animosity between herself and Zemeckis, Tara holds her professors in high esteem and does her best to impress them with both her practical and written work. She favours Helga von der Vogelweidhof (Transfiguration), Oswalt Digby (History of Magic) and Joshua Wibault (Care of Magical Creatures). Physical Appearance Tara is fairly short in stature, with electric-blue eyes, and adopts an eclectic style for herself. She favours dresses with either striped tights and ankle boots or white, knee-length socks and ballet flats. Her black hair, a choppy, asymmetric cut, was originally an accident: feeling it had become too long, she attempted to cut it herself with kitchen scissors and the oven door as a mirror. Unable to make it even, she continued cutting until one side was noticeably shorter than the other, but she chose to keep it, liking the uniqueness of the look. Having been born with astigmatism, Tara is never without her square, thick-rimmed glasses. Personality and Traits *Sometimes insecure and introverted *Confident (if somewhat abrasive) when she wishes *Stubborn, often to a fault *Loyal and defensive of her friends and family - those who insult or belittle so-called outcasts of the magical community (especially Squibs) will generally find themselves on the wrong end of a hex *Slightly claustrophobic **was once trapped in the broken-down lift of a large department store *Inquisitive and considers herself an investigator **suspects Zemeckis of having a hand in the Hag of Crowscreep situation Magical Abilities and Skills Tara has a knack for Potions and Transfiguration (the latter due to her wand - ebony is well-suited for this branch of magic), and a great interest in Care of Magical Creatures. She enjoys flying but is not a very good Quidditch player, a fact by which she is untroubled. Hobbies and Notable Possessions Hobbies *Reading *Sailing *Attending Pride of Portree Quidditch matches *Attending Skye Camanachd shinty games *Sometimes found to be singing *Cooking and baking Possessions *Ebony & Dragon Heartstring wand, 12 ¾", Unyielding *Screech owl (Hermod) *"Traveling library"-sized collection of books - both fiction and non-fiction, magic and Muggle *Weird Sisters memorabilia **her mother's old LP's **a t-shirt emblazoned with the band's name (on the front) and the lyric "Can you dance like a hippogriff" (on the back) which she wears as pyjamas *A Cirrus 1500 racing broom, but had to leave it at home due to the broomstick rule for first years Relationships Biological Family Tara, despite being fully accepting of Muggles and Muggle-borns, despises her father for what she perceives as his abandonment of her mother. She considers only his parents to be her paternal family, being exceptionally proud of their efforts during World War II. For her mother, on the other hand, she feels guilt for not being present during her illness. Due to the infectiousness of Spattergroit, Tara was not permitted to see her mother towards the end of her life. As such, she did all she could to honour her: from learning near-obsessively in the hopes of being Sorted into Ravenclaw, to taking a summer job in the fishmonger's. She holds her pure-blood relatives in disdain but feels little for her Muggle relatives, as they died before her birth. Foster Family Tara is extremely close to her foster-brother, Henry. The two share the ambition to see a Hebridean Black dragon, the species native to the group of islands where they live. After the arrival of her Hogwarts letter, and the discovery of his being a Squib, a rift grew between the children, resulting in them becoming distant to one another. During the trip to Diagon Alley to buy her school supplies, Tara spotted a small, enchanted model of the very dragon they wished to see in person. She bought the dragon as a gift for Henry and the two eventually reconciled. Henry owns a black, part-Kneazle cat, who is also Henry's best friend (aside from Tara), with which she gets along very well. She does not get along so well with Henry's cousin, Scott, whom she describes as "equal parts a child and a perv". She takes a very neutral attitude to his maternal uncle, Scott's father, Spencer. She cares a great deal for Stewart, her foster-father, whom she had known her whole life. The money left to her by her mother pays for her school supplies easily, but she feels that she should give back to her foster family for their kindness and so her wages from her summer job go towards her upkeep and that of both Hermod and Henry's cat. Ivory Bennett (WIP) Tara met Ivory Bennett on board the Hogwarts Express during their first trip to Hogwarts. The two became friends, along with Mina Gray, and remained so, even after Ivory was Sorted into Hufflepuff. Mina Gray (WIP) Tara met Mina Gray on board the Hogwarts Express during their first trip to Hogwarts. The two became friends, along with Ivory Bennett, and remained so, even after Mina was Sorted into Slytherin. Behind the Scenes *''Tara de Barbarac'' is a character portrayed by TaraTheBarbarian Resident in the virtual world Second Life® @ Mischief Managed, a devotional sim created by Anya Ohmai and voluntarily maintained by various creative Administrators and players. You can find out more information here: http://mischiefmanagedsl.net *The character of 'Tara de Barbarac' was originally created for "How To Train Your Dragon" as a Celtic pirate known as 'Tara the Barbarian' **this name, and the idea of her life of piracy, was borrowed from the animated television series "Xcalibur" ***'Tara' has many meanings in many cultures. Most notably, it is Irish (meaning "rocky hill", a reference to the mostly-inhospitable Scottish Highlands) and Indian (meaning "goddess of the sea", a reference to her origin's pirate career and her modern incarnation's love of sailing and life on an island) ***her modern incarnation's surname 'de Barbarac' is from the film "Ever After", chosen for its similarity to the word, 'barbarian' **her appearance and much of her personality is that of her creator *Her origin as a character from a Viking series inspired the use of the name 'Hermod' for her owl (the name 'Hermes' was already claimed canonically by Percy Weasley - much to the annoyance of her creator, a follower of Hellenismos), after the Norse messenger god *Tara's IC friends, Mina Gray and Ivory Bennett, are portrayed by her creator's OOC friends Category:Ravenclaws